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A Lecture on Islamic Theology

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A Lecture on Islamic Theology A LECTURE ON ISLAMIC THEOLOGY I. Basic Beliefs of Islam. Before taking up the subject of Islamic theology proper I should like, by way of introduction, to outline the basic religious beliefs which are common to all Muslims. As you may know, Islam was founded by the Prophet Muh. ammad in the Arabian Peninsula in the first quarter of the seventh century. At the age of forty the Prophet began to receive certain revelations which he believed came from God. He was commanded by God to recite these revelations publicly and was told that God had chosen him to be His messenger and prophet. The revelations which he received were collected and preserved as sacred scripture by his companions and followers and this collection of revelations is known as the Qur’¯an. I should like to stress here that the Qur’¯anis considered by Muslims to be the speech or word of God himself, rather than something composed or written by the Prophet. What the Prophet Muh. ammad himself said, as opposed to what God revealed to him, was also preserved by his followers and later collected into books, and these sayings, which are known as traditions, or h. ad¯ıth, are as authoritative in religious matters as the Qur’¯anitself. Islam thus possesses two sources of revealed truth, the first being the Qur’¯an, which is the record of God’s message to mankind through the Prophet, and the second being the h. ad¯ıth, or collected sayings and acts of the Prophet. It is from these two sources that the basic religious beliefs of Muslims are derived. What, then, are these basic beliefs? First of all, Muslims believe that God is absolutely one and that Muh. ammad is His messenger or prophet. In fact, to become a Muslim it is sufficient to bear witness to the fact that there is no god but God and that Muh. ammad is His messenger. Muslims further believe that God created the universe, and that He has periodically revealed His word to a number of prophets and messengers, among whom are included Jesus and Moses and the other prophets of the Hebrew Bible. Muslims believe in angels, in the resurrection of the body, in a final Day of Judgment, and in a Heaven and a Hell where humans will be rewarded or punished in accordance with their acts and beliefs in this world. These basic beliefs are summed up in two very short creeds found in two separate verses of the Qur’¯an,which I should like to read to you. The first verse is: The messenger believeth in that which hath been revealed unto him from his Lord and (so do) the believers. Each one believeth in Allah and his angels and His scriptures and His messengers—We make no distinction between any of His messengers—and they say: We hear and we obey. (Grant us) Thy forgiveness, our Lord. Unto thee is the journeying. (Qur’¯an, II:285)1 1 The translations of Qur’¯anic verses are those of Mohammed Marmaduke Pick- thall in his The Meaning of the Glorious Koran. 1 The second is: O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His messenger and the Scripture which He hath revealed unto His messenger, and the Scripture which He revealed aforetime. Whoso disbelieveth in Allah and His angels and His scriptures and His messengers and the Last Day, he verily hath wandered far astray. (Qur’¯an,IV:136) Then, of course, in addition to being the source for religious beliefs, the Qur’¯an and the h. ad¯ıth are also the primary sources for Islamic moral and ethical precepts as well as for Islamic law.2 II. The Early Theologians. Let me now turn to Islamic theology. The early Islamic theologians3 were pri- marily interested in dealing with what appeared to them to be problems or even in some cases contradictions in the text of Qur’¯anand the h. ad¯ıth. What were some of these problems? One area of scripture in which there appeared to be problems had to do with God’s unity and His attributes. God is described in the Qur’¯anas being the only God and as a God who has no partners. We find in the Qur’¯an, for example, such verses as the following: Lo! I, even I, am Allah. There is no God save Me. So serve Me and establish worship for My remembrance. (Qur’¯an, XX:14) Lo! Allah pardoneth not that partners should be ascribed unto Him. He pardoneth all save that to whom He will. Whoso ascribeth partners unto Allah hath wandered far astray. (Qur’¯an,IV:116) They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary. The Messiah (himself) said: O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Lo! whoso ascribeth partners unto Allah, for him Allah hath forbidden paradise. His abode is the Fire. For evil-doers there will be no helpers. (Qur’¯an,V:72) They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the third of three; when there is no God save the One God. If they desist not from so saying a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve. (Qur’¯an, V:73) In addition to stressing God’s oneness the Qur’¯analso ascribes certain attributes to God. He is described as being Living, Knowing, Willing, Powerful, Seeing and Speaking. These attributes are usually ascribed to God in the form of verbs or adjectives, but sometimes these attributes are ascribed to God in the form of nouns. For example, the Qur’¯andescribes God as having knowledge in the following verses: 2 On the basic beliefs of Islam see A.J. Wensinck, The Muslim Creed, Cambridge, 1932. 3 These were the theologians who were active from the 2nd/8th century through the 5th/11th century. See the brief history of Islamic theology to be found in Ibn Khald¯un’s The Muqaddimah, vol. III, pp. 34-68. 2 He knoweth that which is in front of them and that which is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His knowledge save what He will. (Qur’¯an, II:255) But Allah (Himself) testifieth concerning that which He hath revealed unto thee; in His knowledge hath He revealed it; and the angels also testify. And Allah is sufficient Witness. (Qur’¯an, IV:166) Now the ascription of these seven attributes to God led the early theologians to ask what precisely is the relationship of these attributes to God Himself, that is, to God’s essence. If the attributes are eternal, that is, if God has always had the attributes of knowledge, will, power, and so on, then are these attributes in some way distinct from God’s essence or are they in reality the same as His essence? If they are distinct from His essence then God’s unity is impaired because we then have more than one eternal being, namely, God’s essence plus each one of His attributes. If this is the case could these attributes then be considered partners of God? On the other hard, if the attributes are really the same as His essence, then the attributes do not really exist in themselves and the Qur’¯anis ascribing to God non-existent attributes. If, however, God’s attributes are not eternal then God must have created them, but if He created them, then they are part of His creation and cannot be attributes of Himself. Not only does the Qur’¯anascribe these seven attributes to God, it also describes God in many places in very anthropomorphic terms. God is described as having a face or countenance, hands and eyes, and as seating Himself on His throne. Let me quote some verses containing anthropomorphic descriptions of God. In the following verse God is described as having a hand: Therefor Glory be to Him in Whose hand is the dominion over all things! Unto Him ye will be brought back. (Qur’¯an,XXXVI:82) He is also described as having eyes: Build the ship under Our eyes and by Our inspiration, and speak not unto Me on behalf of those who do wrong. Lo! they will be drowned. (Qur’¯an, XI:37) He has a face or countenance: And cry not unto any other god along with Allah. There is no God save Him. Everything will perish save His countenance. His is the command, and unto Him ye will be brought back. (Qur’¯an, XXVIII:88) He sits on a throne: The Beneficent One, Who is established on the Throne. (Qur’¯an, XX:5) Who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six Days, then He mounted the Throne. The Beneficent! Ask anyone informed concerning Him! (Qur’¯an,XXV:59) If this description of God is literally true, then He must be a corporeal being—a body in time and space. And since all bodies are divisible into parts, God’s unity is again impaired. 3 On the other hand, there is one verse in the Qur’¯anthat states that there is nothing at all similar to Him or that there is nothing anything like Him: The Creator of the heavens and the earth. He hath made for you pairs of yourselves, and of the cattle also pairs, whereby He multiplieth you. Naught is as His likeness; and He is the Hearer, the Seer. (Qur’an, XLII:11) Thus, although God is frequently described in anthropomorphic terms, the Qur’¯anseems to be saying in this verse that we are not to understand any an- thropomorphic description of God in the same way we would if we applied such a description to humans.
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